Crating system for sheet material or the like

ABSTRACT

A substantially rectangular crate is provided for sheet material or the like having spaced-apart parallel bottom rails, a pair of ledge rails outside the bottom rails and parallel thereto, crosspieces extending between the ledge rails across the bottom rails and fixed thereto, support members on the ledge rails extending between the crossmembers, the tops of said crossmembers and support members being generally in the same plane. Metal bindings are inserted over the bottom rails, under the ledge rails and around a stack of sheets on the crate with a laminated paper angle between the binding and the edge of the stack.

United States Patent James W. McCracken Leeeltburg, Pa. 15656 [21 1Appl. No. 866,324

[22] Filed Oct. 14, 1969 [45] Patented Nov. 9, 1971 [72] Inventor [54]CRATING SYSTEM FOR SHEET MATERIAL 0R Primary Examiner-Bobby R. GayAssistant Examiner-Glenn 0. Finch Attorney-Bull, Blenko & ZiesenheimABSTRACT: A substantially rectangular crate is provided for sheetmaterial or the like having spaced-apart parallel bottom rails, a pairof ledge rails outside the bottom rails and parallel thereto,crosspieces extending between the ledge rails across the bottom railsand fixed thereto, support members on the ledge rails extending betweenthe crossmembers, the tops of said crossmembers and support membersbeing generally in the same plane. Metal bindings are inserted over thebottom rails, under the ledge rails and around a stack of sheets on thecrate with a laminated paper angle between the binding and the edge ofthe stack.

PATENTED NOV 9197: 3,618,536

o INVENTOR James W. McCrocken 2' fl glwvi. J, K

1 his ATTORNEYS CRATING SYSTEM FOR SHEET MATERIAL OR THE LIKE Thisinvention relates to a crating system for sheet material or the like andparticularly to a new crating system for heavy material such as steelsheets or the like sheet material. More particularly, this inventionpertains to a new kind of crate, made of a material like wood and to anew system of crating for handling or shipping fiat sheet materials suchas steel sheets having a high-grade finish, e.g. stainless steel.

It has for a considerable number of years been customary practice formanufacturers of high-grade steel sheets, such as stainless steel sheetsmade by cold-rolling processes and having expensive and valuablefinishes, to be shipped in wooden crates. Such sheets are supplied in avariety of thicknesses and a variety of external dimensions such as 6 by12, 4 by it), 3 by and many other such sizes. The weight of the crateand the protection which it affords to the sheets which it carries areboth very important characteristics and determine the utility of thecrate and the amount of steel which can beshipped in any particulartime, because the heavier the crate, the less steel that can be handledin a given unit, usually because of weight limitations at the consignees plant. In addition, it is important that the sheets be fully protectedso that the valuable finish which has been given to them is not in anyway impaired during shipping. Prior art crates which have been used upto the present time have been expensive to fabricate, difficult tohandle and perhaps most important, did not provide the necessaryprotection desired, particularly on very thin sheets. Prior art crateshave been generally made with spaced-apart ledge rails along the sides,held together by spaced crossrails terminating at the ledge rails and aset of side rails and end rails extending vertically above thecrossrails between which the sheets are packaged. In the case of suchcrates, particularly when very thin sheets are involved, there was nosupport along the edges between the crossrails for the sheets so thatthe sheet tended to give or bow between the crossrails until theytouched the ledge rails. This sometimes deleteriously affected thesurface finish. This is quite undesirable and should be avoided. Thishas not been possible in the structures which are presently available.

In the crating system of the present invention a new crate and method ofcrating is provided having many advantages over the crates of the priorart. In my new crate the problem of sagging or bowing of strip betweenthe crossmembers is avoided and the sheets are supported from end to endof the crate along all of their edges. In the new crate standardmaterials can be used with a minimum of assembly labor required. The newcrate requires much less material and thus presents a far less problemin storage and handling prior to use. The new crate may be assembledfrom one side without the need for turning the crate over in order tocomplete the assembly as is the case in most of the prior art types ofcrate. All of the parts can be prepared in advance and the necessarycrates rapidly assembled from precut parts. The crate of this inventionwhile very light as compared to the prior art crates, is very strong andprovides the necessary support for sheets so that the sheets will beprotected even if the crate is dropped. For example, sheets packed onthe crate of this invention have been repeatedly dropped from the heightof a truck bed without breaking the crate or damaging the sheets. Thepractice of the present invention eliminates the need for side rails andthe need for top crosspieces and permits the use of metal binding stripswhile protecting the binding strips against tearing and accidentalbreakage.

The foregoing general description of my invention outlines certainobjects, purposes and advantages of the invention. Other purposes,objects and advantages of this invention will be apparent from aconsideration of the following description and the accompanying drawingsin which:

Flt]. l is a plan view ofa crate according to this invention;

FIG. 2 is a side-elevational view of the crate of FIG. 1;

FIG. 3 is a side-elevational view of a crate and assembled sheet puckaccording to the invention;

FIG. 4 is a section on the line lV-IV ofFlG. 3.

ans:

Referring to the drawings, I have illustrated a crate having a pair ofspaced'apart main bottom rails 10 and 11. A pair of ledge rails 12 and13 are spaced outside the bottom rails 10 and 11, crosspieces 14 extendacross the main rails 10 and 11 and the ledge rails 12 and 13 and arefastened thereto. The ledge rails 12 andl 3 and the main bottom rails 10and 11 are parallel to one another and each of the crosspieces isparallel one with the other. Each of bottom rails and the ledge railsand crosspieces are preferably made of a single piece of highgradehigh-strength lumber such as oak preferably of standard sizes. Supportsections 15 are placed on the ledge rails 12 and 13 between each of thecrosspieces 14. These support members are also preferably made ofstandard size lumber preferably of oak and fastened to the ledge rails.The ledge rails 12 and 13 preferably extend outside of the ends of thecrossmembers l4 and the support members 15 to provide a slight ledge 11awhich is of advantage if side or end rails are desired, however it canbe omitted. Sheets 20 to be crated are placed on the crossmembers withtheir edges resting on the support member 15. A laminated angular memberformed of paper 16 is placed along each of the edges of the sheet 20 andmetal bindings 17 are placed beneath the ledge rails 12 and 13 and overthe bottom rails 10 and 11 and around and over the sheets 20 and thecomer-laminated protectors 17. This protects the sheet steel againstflexing and bending and protects the edges against damages.

Sheet material to be shipped such as stainless steel sheets 20 areplaced on the bottom crossrails and the support members as shown inFIGS. 3 and 4. The sheets 20 are shown schematically since they may varymaterially in thickness from load to load depending upon the product ofthe particular mill. For some surface finishes it may be desirable tointerleave between each of the sheets of metal 20 a sheet of paper 21 toprotect the sheets against intrusion of weather or dust and dirt.

The assembly completed as above described with the material shippedtherein presents an economical and satisfactory crate which has a veryattractive appearance, a high salvage value and a very low cost ascompared with prior art crating systems. At the same time, it keeps themetal sheets flat and protected, prevents the sagging of the sheetsbetween the crosspieces and materially increases the weight of metalthat can be shipped in the crate for any given dimension and totalweight of shipment and thus solves the problem which has long existed inthis particular art.

While I have described certain preferred embodiments and practices of myinvention in the foregoing specification, if will be understood thatthis invention may be otherwise embodied within the scope of thefollowing claims.

Iclaim:

l. A substantially rectangular crate for sheet material comprising incombination, a pair of spaced-apart parallel main bottom support rails,a pair of spaced-apart ledge rails outside the main bottom rails andparallel thereto one on each side of the main bottom rails, said ledgerails having a vertical dimension less than the main bottom rails, aplurality of spaced-apart parallel crosspieces extending between theledge rails, across the bottom rails, and fixed thereto, support memberson the ledge rails extending between the crossmembers, the tops of saidcrosspieces and support members being generally in the same plane.

2. A substantially rectangular crate for sheet material as claimed inclaim 1 wherein the ledge rails extend beyond the ends of thecrossmembers and beyond the sides of the support members.

3. A substantially rectangular crate for sheet material as claimed inclaim 1 wherein the main bottom support rails extend beyond thecrosspieces at each end.

4. A substantially rectangular crate for sheet material as claimed inclaim 1 wherein the main bottom support rails are thicker than the ledgerails whereby the ledge rails are raised above a plane common to thebottom of the bottom rails.

5. A substantially rectangular crate for sheet material as claimed inclaim 1 wherein a metal binding strip passes over the main bottomsupport rails and under the ledge rails.

1. A substantially rectangular crate for sheet material comprising incombination, a pair of spaced-apart parallel main bottom support rails,a pair of spaced-apart ledge rails outside the main bottom rails andparallel thereto one on each side of the main bottom rails, said ledgerails having a vertical dimension less than the main bottom rails, aplurality of spacedapart parallel crosspieces extending between theledge rails, across the bottom rails, and fixed thereto, support memberson the ledge rails extending between the crossmembers, the tops of saidcrosspieces and support members being generally in the same plane.
 2. Asubstantially rectangular crate for sheet material as claimed in claim 1wherein the ledge rails extend beyond the ends of the crossmembers andbeyond the sides of the support members.
 3. A substantially rectangularcrate for sheet material as claimed in claim 1 wherein the main bottomsupport rails extend beyond the crosspieces at each end.
 4. Asubstantially rectangular crate for sheet material as claimed in claim 1wherein the main bottom support rails are thicker than the ledge railswhereby the ledge rails are raised above a plane common to the bottom ofthe bottom rails.
 5. A substantially rectangular crate for sheetmaterial as claimed in claim 1 wherein a metal binding strip passes overthe main bottom support rails and under the ledge rails.